Spencer H. Diamond: Romney loss won't deter my political activity

It was a feeling I had never felt before. My heart raced as every number flashed before my eyes, followed by a map colored red or blue. I have never been to the stock exchange, but this, I thought, must be what it feels like.

So what if I hadn't slept much the night before and had countless arguments with friends, professors and family members? I was a newly turned 18-year-old, voting in my first election. In fact, I was so excited when I entered that voting booth in Seegers Union of Muhlenberg College, I had to stop myself from belting out the national anthem.

Back to that fateful night, as I stood in the middle of a buffet at a party in the college's political science department, I saw my beloved red ahead of the incumbent blue. Suddenly, I felt like this night was going to be something out of "Evita" (the Hollywood version, not the actual, Nazi-sympathizing story), with Mitt and Ann Romney standing at a podium in Boston, with tears coming down their faces. I could see it: Mitt Romney would get up, smile and thank us citizens for voting to restore this nation to the constitutional glory that it had been founded on. But then, somewhere between my second and third sugar cookie, it was declared that President Obama had won Ohio.

Soon it would be me who would be trying to hold back tears. Being a Jewish, gay, 18-year-old from New York, you can imagine just how hard it was for me to choose to give up pursuing my own personal liberties in order to revive the economy. In fact, I was so distraught by having to make this sacrifice that I registered in Lehigh County as a member of the Libertarian party.

It wasn't until the first presidential debate that I was reminded exactly how inept our president is at running this country. Once I came out as a Romney supporter, I faced a severe backlash of attacks on me but not my views. I became a vicious pariah, determined to ruin the lives of others for the sole purpose of my financial benefit because I supported a Republican.

The thing that disgusts me the most is that the left, which has prided itself for decades on its kind, humanitarian qualities, was now demoralizing anybody who disagreed with it. The message became clear: If you don't support a tax code that only fosters the development of global corporations and welfare recipients, your voice shouldn't count.

This election experience was a terrible one, and I almost decided to never think about politics again, but then I realized that would be letting my opponents win. While I am saddened by what happened, I am going to remain active in the political community so that this doesn't happen again.